Bringing your favorite foods off your screen and on to your plate

Rugrats

Wow! If anything is going to make me feel old, it’s the fact that Nickelodeon Animation is celebrating their 25th. I’ve been there from the get-go and have loved my fair share of Nicktoons. Although it’s much harder to play favorites now, when I was little, Rugrats was at the top of my list. I don’t know what it was about those babies, but I just couldn’t get enough of them. I’ve got the toy collection to prove it. While looking through all my stuff, I realized that most of it is Angelica-related. She’s a bully and a brat, so she’s not the best role model for youngsters, but that girl’s got guts. The stuff she’s pulled to get what she wants is amazing. She’s impersonated her mom to get sweets, “kidnapped” her own doll to get a new one, and feigned a broken leg to get people to wait on her hand and foot. Sure, nothing really ends well for Angelica, but I wish I could’ve given one of her schemes a go.

When Angelica fakes her brake, she even asks for the same stuff I would: a big TV and some chocolate pudding. I could never push someone to the point of a 3 AM pudding run or beyond, but it is fun to watch. I always laughed while Stu’s life spiraled out of control, but it’s scary how much I empathize with him now. I’ve had many of those moments, but never any involving pudding. If I’m making chocolate pudding at four o’clock in the morning, I hope it’s because I can and not because I have to.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder, milk powder, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Move mixture to an airtight container and store until ready to use.

Chocolate Pudding:

Combine Pudding Mix and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook, still whisking, until the pudding has thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the pudding into a bowl or divide into servings. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and chill before serving. Enjoy!

Whether I’m in control of my life or not, it’s nice knowing just how easy it is to make chocolate pudding. (I never know when someone’s going to break a leg.) Anyway, the more I look at it, the easier it is for me to see why I never tried to emulate Angelica. (She didn’t even eat the pudding!) But her crazy, villainous antics are just one of the things that keep me coming back to the show after all these years. Sure, Rugrats (and I) have gotten older, but that doesn’t mean we have to act our age.